


An Ode to Youth [Authorized Translation of 青春礼赞]

by eppt



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:53:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23117287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eppt/pseuds/eppt
Summary: “Donghyuck! When you come up! If you see the fire! Come up here! Got it?”A story of several high school boys trying to make their love fair and bright.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Kudos: 8





	An Ode to Youth [Authorized Translation of 青春礼赞]

**Author's Note:**

> Translator’s Note:  
> This story is originally written by @无人问津国(nooneknowsguo) in Chinese and posted on both ao3 and Weibo, with 14 chapters. Please comment if there are problems with the translation. Just in case if you have a question, Lee Minhyung is Mark’s Korean name.

Chapter 1 The Secret Organization  
  
In 1999 Korea there was a popular radio show “Voice of Love”. Lee Donghyuck was a faithful listener, but as someone who stated that “Voice of Love” takes up half of his life, he had only connected with DJ Jung for once. It happened when he was eleven, the night his neighbour Lee Minhyung moved away. At that time he was too young to learn the term “boyfriend”, so he mimicked the tone of those grown-ups and solemnly said to DJ Jung: “My husband moved away today so I want to request the song ‘Farewell Beauty’.”  
Lee Donghyuck supposed the geomantic omen of his house was not well. At a young age he fell in love with Lee Minhyung, but he moved away. A boy around his age became his new neighbor, and similar to him, he was not attracted to the opposite sex and was passionate for boys, but a while ago he suddenly committed suicide.  
The incident was on the TV news. Around those days numerous students’ news were shown on TV, Lee Donghyuck’s neighbor boy was dating a boy in the same school, the school discovered, called their parents and ordered them to quit school. For the next whole month the neighbor aunt was furiously crying and took the kid to see two psychological doctor who came from nowhere. Lee Donghyuck still remembered that afternoon when the neighbor kid was again confined after coming back from the doctor’s, followed by the familiar noises of quarreling and objects crashing. He thought it was going to last longer, as usual. But that evening when Lee Donghyuck turned on “Voice of Love” routinely, he heard the boy’s voice from the radio, with only one sentence: “I can hold on no more.”  
And he cut his wrist that night.  
Someone posted the whole thing on the news. Issues about homosexuality were rarely being discussed, and in an era with undeveloped information communication it became a hot topic. The school, however, had no sense of guilt. It even added a new school rule along with a few nearby high schools: “Intimate contacts with students with the same sex are forbidden.” Several discipline keepers instantly appeared in Lee Donghyuck’s high school campus the next day, and even walking shoulder to shoulder to the washroom was being monitored.  
Until a week ago, a demonstration organized spontaneously by students occurred in Seoul. The banners said “Revise school regulations, free sexual orientation”. More than a hundred students from five or six schools joined the demonstration. Their respective uniforms exposed their schools, but they all kept their identities in secret by putting some doll’s clownish headgears on their heads.  
To catch the twelve students from the school who participated in the demonstration, the principal of Riverside High made all students stand under blazing sun in the 37 degrees temperature for the whole afternoon. He held up his speaker, and every sentence stroke hard: “If the twelve students won’t come forward themselves, no one is going home today.”  
To his words Lee Donghyuck acted as he was deaf. He wanted to have a word with Lee Minhyung standing in front, but there were two students between them. He exchanged position with the two kids when the teacher’s not noticing, and finally reached Lee Minhyung’s back, poked the back of his waist and whispered: “Minhyung, let me invite you to dinner tonight.”  
Lee Minhyung turned to take a look, and turned back like he failed to recognize him.  
So Lee Donghyuck took a big step forward until Lee Minhyung could meet Lee Donghyuck's body by leaning back just one centimeter. He stiffened his back, but immediately twisted his body, because Lee Donghyuck's hands were tickling him like small grass. Itching, he squeezed: “Donghyuck!”. Regardless, Lee Donghyuck’s hands did not stop. He wanted to scare Lee Donghyuck, so he raised his hand and called the teacher. Lee Donghyuck appeared fearless, still clinging to him as the teacher came closer, so Lee Minhyung had to cover his mouth, pretend to be retching and fall out of the queue.  
Lee Donghyuck was smart. He raised his hand and called: “Teacher! Minhyung might have a heatstroke, shall I bring him to the school clinic?”  
The top student Lee Minhyung’s name is the immunity agreement. Lee Donghyuck “assisted” Lee Minhyung to escape from the oppression of the school principal. They were indeed walking towards the direction of the clinic, but didn’t go upstairs. Lee Donghyuck directly opened the last window at the ground floor and jumped out, expecting Lee Minhyung to do so as well, but Lee Minhyung stared at him with distrust.  
“Have you been kidnapped before? Why always defensive against others?” Lee Donghyuck asked. He touched the top of his head and felt his hair hot. Getting thirsty, he unbuttoned his uniform shirt and fanned his face with hands.  
Lee Minhyung’s complexion didn’t look well, he said: “I’m not defensive against others, it’s just you.”  
Lee Donghyuck flattered himself: “To be honest Lee Minhyung, you have a thing for me too, right? Otherwise you’d already have told the teacher since I’ve kept buzzing you for so long.”  
Lee Minhyung looked at him: “You were in the demonstration?”  
“What do YOU say?”  
“Lee Minhyung turned to leave, but Lee Donghyuck called him from behind: “Returning there yourself betrays me, we have to leave together, so if the teacher questions us tomorrow, we may have excuses.”  
Lee Minhyung turned and saw Lee Donghyuck opening both his arms towards him, shaking them as he was about to catch him. He stood still for four or five seconds, and purposely knocked Lee Donghyuck over when he jumped out of the window.  
They escaped the school. Riverside High was named “Riverside” because of its location near the river, and while walking on the riverbank Lee Minhyung still seemed to hear the screams of the principle through the speaker, but when he looked up beside him he could only see Lee Donghyuck running in the winds, like a kite about to take off.

Unconsciously wasting time during the day, when he raised his head again the sky seemed to turn pitch-black suddenly. Lee Minhyung felt deceived. Lee Donghyuck originally promised to invite him to eat. Of course he didn’t meant to eat, but in the next few hours Lee Donghyuck lead him around like a headless fly, and it was until seven when it’s getting dark that they got into the taxi. Lee Donghyuck said an unfamiliar address, and then asked the driver, "Hey uncle, why don't you turn on the the radio, I want to listen to ‘Voice of Love’."  
The driver turned on the radio and Lee Donghyuck enjoyed pleasantly. Lee Minhyung asked him suspiciously: “Are you dragging me into this taxi just for listening to the radio?”  
Lee Donghyuck suddenly recalled past memories: “When you moved away I connected with the radio, said my husband had left and I want to listen to ‘Farewell Beauty’, but DJ Jung thought I was joking and played me a nursery rhyme. After that I wanted to connect to him no more.”  
The driver laughed before Lee Minhyung did. It was not a jeering laugh, but Lee Donghyuck leaned on the back of the front seat impishly: “What are you laughing at uncle?”  
Suddenly he heard another familiar from the radio. The kid who was connecting with DJ Jung said: “I want to find a friend.”  
DJ Jung replied: “This is not a friend-seeking radio, it only solves romantic problems.”  
The connecting boy was impatient: “I am having problems because my friend’s romantic relationship. Today is Wednesday, and every Wednesday at seven in the evening we have routine meetings. But today he ran off with his boyfriend and was nowhere to find. He’s a faithful listener of “Voice of Love”, so now I will have a word with him on the radio.”  
The boy yelled at the top of his voice before getting permission: “Lee Haechan I’ll give you ten minutes, if you do not appear in ten minutes you will be dismissed from Full Sun Association!”  
In the car, Lee Donghyuck was hitting his thigh and laughing enough to wake the dead.

It was until they got off the taxi when Lee Minhyung was aware of another name of Lee Donghyuck: Haechan. Lee Donghyuck said it is his professional name. He did not explain why a normal student can have a professional name, but dragged Lee Minhyung’s sleeve and ran wildly by the streets. The evening temperature was not cooled down completely yet, but there was some breeze while running that made his body feel fresher after the whole heating afternoon. His brain got a bit dizzy though, still remembering the kid’s message from the radio: “What is Full Sun Association?”  
As he was asking Lee Donghyuck has stopped running with him. They entered a two-floor building which the ground floor was a small store, and the owner was a man listening to “Voice of Love” by the radio as well. Lee Donghyuck greeted him and took Lee Minhyung upstairs through the stairs behind the shelves. The stairs were steep, so Lee Minhyung felt that his face might instantly bump into Lee Donghyuck’s butt. He had an acrophobia and always thought he was going to fall backwards, so he shrugged his shoulders and finally reached upstairs. As soon as he stood still he was attacked with a flying notebook that hit his ear with a “splash”, fell to the ground and broke up immediately, leaving blank pages all over the floor.  
The second floor was not furnished and plainly covered in gray cement. Pieces of cardboard were on the floor, and a few boys in school uniforms were sitting on them, not only from Riverside High, but also from several other schools. Two sheets of white paper were on the wall, with two coarsely written English words on them: Full Sun.  
Lee Minhyung knew the guy who threw him the notebook. He’s from the same grade in the same school, and also Lee Donghyuck’s friend, called Huang Renjun. Once he realized that Lee Donghyuck was not arriving alone, he froze for a sec and then apologized to Lee Minhyung, and then turned to mock Lee Donghyuck: “Are you afraid of being dismissed by Full Sun so you bring your boyfriend to plead for you?”  
“I’m the president of Full Sun.” Lee Donghyuck glared at him, and announced out of bravado: “He’ll be my boyfriend sooner or later, it’s just he has not accepted my affections yet.”  
The boys on the ground heckled him, and Lee Minhyung appeared to be a bit uncomfortable. He asked Lee Donghyuck: “Seriously, what is this place for?”  
Huang Renjun answered for Lee Donghyuck: “Initially it’s a place we do songwriting and sing, but now we are planning other events and having meetings here.”  
“Songwriting? You write songs here?... What meetings?”  
Lee Donghyuck replied simply: “It was me who started the demonstration.”  
Lee Minhyung lost his words.  
  
The kids gathered in a circle on the ground. The house belonged to Huang Renjun’s family, and the man downstairs was his uncle. He went down and ordered JaJangMyun with the telephone in the store. While waiting for delivery Lee Donghyuck asked everyone: “Was the principle furious this afternoon? No one stepped out, right?”  
All students from Riverside High shook their heads. A student in yellow uniform from another school said: “We’ve got good covers, so no one knows except us. But it seems like it did no good, our school is also looking for students who joined and there’s no way to change the rules. And Donghyuck, the one who committed suicide was from your school, and he already got on the news with a bad influence. After this trouble, if you are caught by the principle, you’re much likely going to be dismissed.  
Lee Donghyuck couldn’t figure it out: “Is the bad influence caused by them forcing a student to death, or the fact that there’s a gay in the school?”  
They all shrugged, seeming that the answer was obvious. Lee Minhyung suddenly interrupted: “If the school’s opinion is that he died of homosexuality and they have no responsibilities, do you think a demonstration change this? What influence can you few students have?”  
Lee Minhyung’s words was not with a good attitude, and everyone was silent also because of his undeniable truth. Lee Donghyuck glared him for a sec, suddenly moved his butt to the side and plopped his body. When he fell the back of his head straightly hit Lee Minhyung’s knee bone. It’s hard to compare which is tougher, but both of them winced in pain. Lee Minhyung raised his hand to smack Lee Donghyuck’s face: “What?”  
Lee Donghyuck rubbed his head, still not getting up, and looked up at Lee Minhyung. He clicked his tongue: “Minhyung still looks so handsome while talking, so I can’t control myself.”  
“Can’t control yourself trying to break my knee with the back of your head?”  
Lee Donghyuck giggled foolishly: “I’d love to be more intimate, but so many people are watching, it’s not proper.”  
Huang Renjun rolled his eyes. Ever since he knew Lee Donghyuck his eyeballs were always rolling in these abnormal areas. He interrupted the two’s “romance” inconsiderately, and said to Lee Donghyuck purposely since Lee Minhyung is next to them: “Donghyuck, remember what we said last time? Let...Minhyung join the association?”  
Lee Donghyuck corrected him earnestly: “Call me Haechan.”  
Huang Renjun raised his arms in surrender and directly said to Lee Minhyung: “The kid who died was Haechan’s neighbor, and he lived in your old house...”  
Huang Renjun had knew Lee Donghyuck for a few years, and he’s so familiar with Lee Donghyuck that he knew the number of his underpants, so he dramatized the thing so Lee Minhyung: “Minhyung, you don’t know, that boy was very similar to you. Donghyuck often peeked at him at the door, and once he was dead and got on the news, Donghyuck started to plan the demonstration to protest. Donghyuck is not a good one, he always has a thing for his neighbor whoever he is.”  
Lee Donghyuck raised from the ground abruptly and spitted: “Nonsense!”  
Huang Renjun mimicked him and stuck out his tongue. He then asked Lee Minhyung: “Seriously, Minhyung, wanna join and help us?”  
Lee Minhyung shook his head: “I’ve got no time. My mom found me a private tutor for two hours per day, so I can’t even make it out of the door.”  
Lee Donghyuck’s facial temperature dropped immediately. He suddenly remembered something and spoke sarcastically: “He refused to play with us since we’re little, and regard everything I did as childish.”  
  
On the way home Lee Donghyuck recollected lots of scenes, emerging dryly from his memories. Lee Minhyung was like that when they were younger, he hardly join the kids around while playing. Sometimes when Lee Donghyuck climbed over the fence to look for him, he said: “I’m going to read, no horsing around with you.”  
At that time there were several popular games among children, such as dart throwing, marble shooting and hoop rolling. Lee Minhyung never played with them, also because of his mother’s restrictions, he spent most of his time studying since he was a kid. Outstanding and proud, he never fooled around with those “bad kids”, including Lee Donghyuck, and only commented the games Lee Donghyuck invited him to play with as: “Childish.”  
But Lee Donghyuck liked him, at an age when he first realized the feeling of “like”. He couldn’t tell why, and it’s hard to tell why. He’s pretty good-looking, he’s smart and excellent, these shall be included. But he had worries as well. He was sad about Lee Minhyung’s lukewarm attitude, and often got mad because Lee Minhyung didn’t pay attention to him, but these were also a part of his feelings of “like”. After accepting all emotions Lee Minhyung brought him he confessed his affection, but just like the way he refused all the game invitations, Lee Donghyuck couldn’t remember how many times he had been rejected by Lee Minhyung.  
Finally Lee Donghyuck came to a conclusion, in Lee Minhyung’s life there should only be studying.  
The two sat in the car. Lee Donghyuck swamped into his memories, perhaps wanted to look for the initial reasons of his feelings for Lee Minhyung, but found no clues. It was Lee Minhyung who broke the silence. He asked something Lee Donghyuck hadn’t thought about: “You liked that neighbor?”  
“What?”  
“Huang Renjun said so.”  
Lee Donghyuck’s mouth was wide open, feeling surprised. He then grinned: “You’re jealous?”  
Lee Minhyung didn’t speak. He decided to stop asking, knowing that Lee Donghyuck would twist every sentence into other meanings, so he changed the topic: “You insisted to invite me to eat just for taking me to this place?”  
“Yeah.” Lee Donghyuck replied, “You always turned your nose at us when we’re little. You still are?”  
He turned his face to Lee Minhyung and seemed eager, with a sense of anticipation in his eyes. But Lee Minhyung looked outside of the window instead. Their talks always end with Lee Minhyung’s refusal to answer.  
Lee Donghyuck said, “I’m doing a good deed, right.” He was not asking Lee Minhyung. It wasn’t even a question, since he didn’t expect Lee Minhyung’s reply to any of his questions, so most of his words end like murmurs to himself.  
A song was played in the car, and Lee Donghyuck hummed with it. Until then Lee Minhyung continued to ask him: “So you were singing together? I didn’t know you can sing.”  
Lee Donghyuck answered “Uh huh” briskly, and a smile reappeared on his face: “Do you know what’s my intention of writing and singing?”  
Lee Minhyung waited for his answer.  
But Lee Donghyuck seemed to find a way to revenge. Just like Lee Minhyung who always kept silent, he did not answer the question.  



End file.
